MANAGER: We go into the weekend feeling buoyant

Manager John Sheridan confirmed at his Thursday afternoon press conference that he’s looking forward to his first competitive home game as United gaffer as Northampton Town make the trip north to Brunton Park at the weekend.

“It’s always nice to win your first game at home, so that’s what we’ll be aiming for,” he said. “Getting the fans happy in the first game is good, and that’s what we want to be doing.

“With four of the next five games at home it could be a good little run for us. If you’re going to go anywhere in the league you’ve got to be winning your games at home.

“I want us to be adventurous and try to attack teams on our own patch, but I keep reminding the players that if we go out like the first 25 minutes last week, and we switch off, it can feel as though you’re wasting your time sometimes.

“Good decision making and doing the basics will take us a long way in getting the result we’re after.”

“I’m looking at putting the team out I think will get us the result,” he continued. “With it being our first home game, and particularly after last week’s result, it would be good for us to get that win.

“Northampton are a good side, they should have beaten Lincoln last week, and they’re one of the fancied teams. It’s a good test for us but I’m confident that we’ll compete and we’ll get the result we’re after.”

The Cobblers, relegated from League One at the end of the last campaign, have made no secret of the fact that they want to put that right this time round.

“I’ve had them watched and I’ve watched them myself,” he explained. “They’re very bright going forward and they’ve got a bit of pace. I know Dean Austin well and he’ll be a good manager. I know he’ll demand a lot from his team.

“It’s a very evenly matched division, but I think they’ll be up there at the end of it. However, we’re at home, and whoever we play I expect us to win. We’ve trained well this week and we’re going into the weekend feeling buoyant.”

With news that some fans are planning a protest during the game, he insisted that his players will be focused on the job at hand throughout the 90 minutes.

“I’ve come here as the manager to hopefully win football matches, and that’s what I have to concentrate on,” he said. “I’m sure if I’ve got my team out there winning football matches it will help things.

“The players will concentrate on the game and it’s important that they don’t get caught up in it. I’ll make that clear to them because Northampton are there and we need to beat them.

“They [the fans] have their thoughts, they’ve been here a lot longer than I have, but all I can do is concentrate on why I’m here. If me winning football matches helps the situation, then all the better it is for us.

“They’ll have their reasons, but I just want to concentrate on my team and the job we have to do.”

With the permanent transfer window now closed, there is still time to sign free agents and loan players before the end of this month.

“I’ve said many times if I could bring three or four in, I would,” the manager told us. “If circumstances don’t allow me to do that, I just get on with it.

“You won’t hear me going on about ‘I can’t do this and I can’t do that’ because I’m a believer in getting on with what I’ve got. That’s just the way I am.

“I don’t want to sound like I’m trying to be clever in any way, but if the finances aren’t there, they aren’t there. I deal with it and, as I’ve said before, I’ve got a good enough squad of players to cope with what teams in this league are going to throw at us.”

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